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The Gift
Michael is a 17 year old boy who has no friends, has never kissed a girl, and keeps a diary documenting his miserable existence. But his worst problem is the atrocious bullying that eventually leads him to try and take his own life.
But when his suicide attempt fails under strange circumstances Michael has no explanation for it.
That is until he finds a message left by a stranger offering him a chance to avail of The Gift.
The Gift - all of the hearts greatest desires for the price of a handshake and a favour, to be carried out when Michael is a very old man.
When Michael accepts The Gift his life is transformed. Money, success, happiness, and the love of a beautiful woman soon follow.
But when the man in black returns a lot sooner than expected to call in his favour, Michael finds himself in a life or death battle against the demonic destroyer.
The Gift is the Readers Favourite award winning debut novel from Jonathan Lynch
But when his suicide attempt fails under strange circumstances Michael has no explanation for it.
That is until he finds a message left by a stranger offering him a chance to avail of The Gift.
The Gift - all of the hearts greatest desires for the price of a handshake and a favour, to be carried out when Michael is a very old man.
When Michael accepts The Gift his life is transformed. Money, success, happiness, and the love of a beautiful woman soon follow.
But when the man in black returns a lot sooner than expected to call in his favour, Michael finds himself in a life or death battle against the demonic destroyer.
The Gift is the Readers Favourite award winning debut novel from Jonathan Lynch
- GenresHorror
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2012
1 person is currently reading
611 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 24, 2015
This is a "deal with the devil" type of story, where a kid who is severely bullied because he's a scrawny dullard has his life transformed . . . at a cost. The most powerful parts of this story are the insights into the main character's life and truly feeling how beaten down and desperate he is. It's really frighting to see a young person in this condition and to know it happens all too often these days. And then to see him transformed as the story takes off, and his luck turns gave the story a magical feeling. My only criticism is that some of the chapters seemed a bit long, running 40 pages on the Kindle, perhaps a bit of editing to streamline the action would have boosted the tension and conflict. Overall a good read.
August 28, 2014
“There is nothing clearer than the power of the written word.” (5)
As Michael writes in his diary, he recalls his botched suicide attempt. Or was it a dream? But it felt way too real to be a dream. Was he hallucinating? Did he have some kind of sixth sense? What was going on?
The story grabs the reader from the start. You can’t help but relate to these down-on-the-luck characters as they struggle to survive. Michael is this high-school loser that’s never had a girl and has always been bullied; Ann (his mother) is working two jobs and can’t pay her bills; and Maggie is married to a rich bastard who is only getting crankier the older he gets. Still, “it was a relief to see that others were having problems too.” (62) Misery loves company, right?
But why were they seeing a “dark figure?” Where was all this terror coming from? Were they trapped in a strange alternate hell? Or were they just all having a mental breakdown? It was just a mass of wild confusion.
The “dark figure” reminded me of the winged monster from the Jeepers Creepers movie. One minute, you’re standing there; the next, gone.
It seems the greatest battle lies in the darkness. What was that noise? What’s that I feel on my skin? Are the shadows moving? What’s going on here, I can’t see a thing!? I can’t think of anything scarier than being in the dark. But what lurks within the dark? A Gift? What if a gift could eradicate all your pain and suffering and give you all that you ever dreamed of? But, wait, what’s the catch? There’s always a catch.
Well-written but long-winded. A couple of times I found myself wishing the writing would just get to the point already. It wasn’t necessary to relay information we already knew. Still, I was compelled to see how the story would unfold.
Lynch weaves an intriguing tale of dark surrealism, a delightful blend of fantasy and horror, while exploring the crippling desire of temptation and the burdening weights of morality. Our hero must learn that beauty, love, and fortune all come at a dreadful price.
This was a fantastic story full of twists and irony. Loved it!
As Michael writes in his diary, he recalls his botched suicide attempt. Or was it a dream? But it felt way too real to be a dream. Was he hallucinating? Did he have some kind of sixth sense? What was going on?
The story grabs the reader from the start. You can’t help but relate to these down-on-the-luck characters as they struggle to survive. Michael is this high-school loser that’s never had a girl and has always been bullied; Ann (his mother) is working two jobs and can’t pay her bills; and Maggie is married to a rich bastard who is only getting crankier the older he gets. Still, “it was a relief to see that others were having problems too.” (62) Misery loves company, right?
But why were they seeing a “dark figure?” Where was all this terror coming from? Were they trapped in a strange alternate hell? Or were they just all having a mental breakdown? It was just a mass of wild confusion.
The “dark figure” reminded me of the winged monster from the Jeepers Creepers movie. One minute, you’re standing there; the next, gone.
It seems the greatest battle lies in the darkness. What was that noise? What’s that I feel on my skin? Are the shadows moving? What’s going on here, I can’t see a thing!? I can’t think of anything scarier than being in the dark. But what lurks within the dark? A Gift? What if a gift could eradicate all your pain and suffering and give you all that you ever dreamed of? But, wait, what’s the catch? There’s always a catch.
Well-written but long-winded. A couple of times I found myself wishing the writing would just get to the point already. It wasn’t necessary to relay information we already knew. Still, I was compelled to see how the story would unfold.
Lynch weaves an intriguing tale of dark surrealism, a delightful blend of fantasy and horror, while exploring the crippling desire of temptation and the burdening weights of morality. Our hero must learn that beauty, love, and fortune all come at a dreadful price.
This was a fantastic story full of twists and irony. Loved it!
June 28, 2021
I don’t normally choose to read horror, but this book sounded so interesting that I decided to take a chance on it. I’m so glad I did!
This is an engrossing variation on the deal-with-the-devil tale which follows bullied 17-year-old Michael as he accepts an amazing life-changing Gift from a mysterious stranger. But the Gift comes with a price: some favor he must do for the stranger many years in the future. But what’s Michael to do when the favor he owes is called in much sooner than he expected?
Elements I liked:
The author’s descriptions of Michael’s and Ann’s desperation and fears made them real for me. I could feel their pain and anguish and I really wanted to see things get better for them. The suspense-filled scenes interspersed with “normal life” contained such attention to the vivid details that they had me squirming and looking over my shoulder. Those creepy parts built a fantastic, eerie atmosphere of foreboding that lurked even in the background when things were good and normal in the story. The characters’ doubts about their sometimes surreal experiences kept me wondering whether this was going to turn out to be real or instead some sort of chicanery. I had to see what was going to happen, where the story was taking the characters; I read eagerly to find out.
Elements I struggled with:
A few grammatical errors and typos interrupted my reading and temporarily pulled me from the story. They were annoying, but didn’t keep me from the story for long. I found the rather abrupt cliffhanger at the very last part of the ending almost as troublesome, especially since it seems there’s no sequel.
Overall:
I enjoyed this book. It’s an intense, chilling story that kept me wanting to know how it turned out. It’s well worth reading and seems well suited to its YA audience.
This is an engrossing variation on the deal-with-the-devil tale which follows bullied 17-year-old Michael as he accepts an amazing life-changing Gift from a mysterious stranger. But the Gift comes with a price: some favor he must do for the stranger many years in the future. But what’s Michael to do when the favor he owes is called in much sooner than he expected?
Elements I liked:
The author’s descriptions of Michael’s and Ann’s desperation and fears made them real for me. I could feel their pain and anguish and I really wanted to see things get better for them. The suspense-filled scenes interspersed with “normal life” contained such attention to the vivid details that they had me squirming and looking over my shoulder. Those creepy parts built a fantastic, eerie atmosphere of foreboding that lurked even in the background when things were good and normal in the story. The characters’ doubts about their sometimes surreal experiences kept me wondering whether this was going to turn out to be real or instead some sort of chicanery. I had to see what was going to happen, where the story was taking the characters; I read eagerly to find out.
Elements I struggled with:
A few grammatical errors and typos interrupted my reading and temporarily pulled me from the story. They were annoying, but didn’t keep me from the story for long. I found the rather abrupt cliffhanger at the very last part of the ending almost as troublesome, especially since it seems there’s no sequel.
Overall:
I enjoyed this book. It’s an intense, chilling story that kept me wanting to know how it turned out. It’s well worth reading and seems well suited to its YA audience.
November 16, 2020
What would you sacrifice to get what you want? That’s the question The Gift by Jonathan Lynch presents. When high school student Michael faces a life of poverty, bullying, and failure, suicide is the only way he sees out. But his attempt won’t bring death – rather, an encounter with a worker of the Devil himself. A deal is settled, and what follows is like a dream: money, a girlfriend, and success. The problem? Michael still has to hold up his end of the bargain, or things could topple just as quickly as they came.
A great choice for teens with a penchant for horror films, The Gift paints its eerie story for the reader in vivid detail. From a smoky pub to an empty library to a dark alleyway, Lynch’s deal-with-the-devil story immerses the reader in a world where the force of the devil lurks at every corner, and everything comes at a cost. Highly recommended.
A great choice for teens with a penchant for horror films, The Gift paints its eerie story for the reader in vivid detail. From a smoky pub to an empty library to a dark alleyway, Lynch’s deal-with-the-devil story immerses the reader in a world where the force of the devil lurks at every corner, and everything comes at a cost. Highly recommended.
June 23, 2022
The author blew my mind at every event.
May 15, 2021
You have shown me another side of you I never new there was, You are a truly talented writer, Excellent story that touches so many going true the worrie and heart break of having a teenager in this cruel world...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2013
This is, I guess, a horror story...maybe a psychological thriller? Not really either but maybe I'm too used to HORROR horror to consider this as such. It's basically a "be careful what you wish for" story. If not for the blurb (and telling, about 6 chapters in) I'd never have known the main character was 17. He sounded like a pre-teen... like 11? Also the setting... I couldn't have told you that til over halfway thru the book and by reading reviews. Then there was the lottery in the bar where the guy says they draw a winner til the winner's present, but later the mom said it hadn't been won for awhile and rolled over to 20000 €. Unless no one showed or no one played, there'd have been no way it could roll over. But what irritated me the most was the ending! Was the free version missing pages? Made no sense! It was good if details are easy for you to overlook, but for me it fell too flat to rise higher than the generous 3 stars I gave it.
September 22, 2015
I loved this book!! Perhaps one of the best deal with the devil stories I've ever read. Granted this type of story has been around a very very long time but its a fresh take on the tale with some great twists and the ending in particular is really excellent, really floored me. Finished it in a day! Recommend it to those who love a suspenseful and creepy read. A great debut novel
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews